Grants and Contracts Specialist

WHY UT SOUTHWESTERN?
With over 75 years of excellence in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, UT Southwestern is committed to excellence, innovation, teamwork, and compassion. As a world-renowned medical and research center, we strive to provide the best possible care, resources, and benefits for our valued employees. Ranked as the No. 1 hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth according to U.S. News & World Report, we invest in you with opportunities for career growth and development to align with your future goals. Our highly competitive benefits package offers healthcare, PTO and paid holidays, on-site childcare, wage, merit increases and so much more. We invite you to be a part of the UT Southwestern team where you'll discover a culture of teamwork, professionalism, and a rewarding career!

WHY FAMILY MEDICINE?
The Department of Family and Community Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center is seeking a highly organized and collaborative Grants and Contracts Specialist to join our research administration team. The Department is a cohesive community of clinicians, educators, and scholars committed to advancing primary care, improving health outcomes, educating the next generation of family physicians, and serving underserved communities throughout North Texas. The Grants and Contracts Specialist will partner closely with faculty, Principal Investigators, research staff, Sponsored Programs Administration, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and other institutional partners to support the full lifecycle of sponsored research and other externally funded agreements. This position will play a key role in pre-award, post-award, contracts, financial management, reporting, and closeout activities, helping researchers successfully navigate institutional and sponsor requirements. The ideal candidate will be a proactive and detail-oriented professional who can manage multiple priorities and deadlines while providing responsive, solutions-oriented support to faculty and research teams. Strong communication, organization, financial and budget management skills, and the ability to interpret and apply complex sponsor and institutional requirements are essential. Experience with federal grants, including NIH and HRSA, grant budget development, and research administration is highly valued. Knowledge of IRB requirements and other research regulations is preferred.

Key responsibilities include:

• Coordinating grant proposal development and submission.
• Developing and reviewing detailed and modular budgets and budget justifications.
• Interpreting sponsor guidelines and award requirements.
• Coordinating with Sponsored Programs Administration on submissions and awards; supporting award modifications, no-cost extensions, carryforward requests, and progress reporting.
• Monitoring grant financial activity, invoices, payments, and compliance.

The position will also support the development, review, negotiation, and administration of a variety of research and other agreements, including subawards, sponsored research agreements, revenue-generating contracts, data use agreements, material transfer agreements, and educational agreements. The Specialist will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate contract execution, monitor deliverables and payment obligations, maintain accurate records, and support audit readiness.

This is an excellent opportunity for a grants and contracts professional to become an integral member of a growing academic research program and contribute to research that advances primary care and improves health outcomes across diverse and underserved communities.

BENEFITS
UT Southwestern is proud to offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees. Our benefits are designed to support your overall wellbeing, and include:

• PPO medical plan, available day one at no cost for full-time employee-only coverage
• 100% coverage for preventive healthcare-no copay
• Paid Time Off, available day one
• Retirement Programs through the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
• Paid Parental Leave Benefit
• Wellness programs
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Qualified Employer
• Learn more about these and other UTSW employee benefits!

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

Required

• Education
  Bachelor's Degree in business administration, public administration, or related field.
  

• Experience
  2 years of experience in business or public administration with emphasis on customer service in financial or contracting position.
  Applicants without the stated degree, but with significant additional professional applicable experience may be considered in lieu of education requirement.
  

JOB DUTIES

• Provides funding opportunity information to potential applicants by reading newsletters and announcements, searching directories and funding files, identifying and matching sponsor with researcher, and mailing out information.
• Provides guidance to researchers for proposal development and submission by interpreting sponsor and university announcements and guidelines on application preparation and content by reviewing proposals for completeness and adherence to guidelines and mailing out proposals in timely manner.
• Provides grants management support to researchers by negotiating and processing awards, interpreting award conditions, obtaining approvals for award changes, and obtaining required reports.
• Drafts and negotiates contracts with various agencies (state and federal government, private organizations), pharmaceutical companies, and biotechnology companies to achieve agreements satisfactory to all parties following state laws and Board of Regents' guidelines.
• Provides guidance and assistance to researchers as necessary for implementation and negotiation of research contracts, including sponsored research agreements and material transfer agreements.
• Monitors status of contracts for completion.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Work requires excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Work requires good organizational skills.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/WORKING CONDITIONS

Physical Requirements

• Talking

Working Conditions

• Office Setting

Salary Information
Salary is commensurate with education, skills, and relevant experience.

SECURITY AND EEO STATEMENT

Security
This position is security-sensitive and subject to Texas Education Code 51.215, which authorizes UT Southwestern to obtain criminal history record information.

EEO
UT Southwestern Medical Center is committed to an educational and working environment that provides equal opportunity to all members of the University community. As an equal opportunity employer, UT Southwestern prohibits unlawful discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, or veteran status.